St. Michaels 1-10, Ratoath 1-09                                                         

St. Michaels passed a stern test of their credentials as a strong finish saw them stave off the stiff Ratoath challenge in this must win second round match of the Kepak Meath LGFA IFC in Ratoath on Wednesday evening last.

The introduction of Seona Lynch at the interval for St. Michaels proved crucial with Lynch involved in the creation and execution of several of her sides second half scores.                          

Both sides found scores hard to come by in the opening half especially St. Michaels who could only raise two white flags, one on 7 minutes by the hard working Marion Farrelly and another after 22 minutes by Claire Reilly. Ratoath opened their account on 7 minutes and posted a further 6 minors between the 17th minute and the short whistle to lead by 0-7 to 0-2 at the break. 

St. Michaels exploded into life after the re-start when Claire Halpin seized upon a loose ball in the Ratoath goalmouth following a high ball in from a Seona Lynch free and Halpin made no mistake in sending it past the advancing 'keeper Aoife Tormey to the back of the Ratoath net. Marion Farrelly posted her second minor a couple of minutes later when she gathered Sinéad McCormack's pass to leave just a point between the sides.

Ratoath quickly moved back upfield and rattled the St. Michaels net with an unstoppable shot past the outstretched Laura Halpin for a four point lead but Ratoath's early dominance was beginning to wane at this juncture due mainly to the hard work put in by the roving Roisin Nulty, Aine Sheridan, Emma McDonnell and Lorraine Curtis.
Points from Farrelly, Alicia Curtis and a well worked 1-2 between Lynch and Farrelly resulted in Lynch tapping over her third minor to put her side one up at the end of the third quarter.   

A further point apiece from Curtis and Lynch left three between the sides with five minutes remaining on the clock and it was all Ratoath in those dying few minutes as they reduced the deficit to just a single point however the St. Michaels girls weathered the storm and expressed their delight at the final whistle as they live to fight another day by hugging their team-mates. 

St. Michaels team & scorers: Laura Halpin; Anna Cunningham, Emma McDonnell, Lorraine Curtis; Ciara Reilly, Marion Farrelly (0-3), Aine Sheridan; Claire Halpin (1-0), Mary Carpenter; Sarah Bradley, Sinéad McCormack, Yvonne Farrelly; Rosin Nulty, Alicia Curtis (0-2), Claire Reilly (0-1).                                                                                                                                                   

Subs used: Seona Lynch (0-4) for Y. Farrelly, Kate Sheridan for Ciara Reilly.                                                                                                                  

Report and photo: Pascal Reilly, PRO.

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